Monday, April 8, 2013

M.R. Gott's Interview series...Jonathan Janz

Please Welcome Jonathan Janz to Cutis Anserina...

What reader’s do you
think House of Skin will most appeal to?

Though I think horror lovers and fans of ghost stories will
enjoy the book a great deal, I think the themes of this story are universal
enough to resonate with non-horror fans, too. Paul Carver and Sam Barlow (two
of the three co-protagonists) desperately want redemption. Paul has allowed
alcohol and poisonous relationships to stain his existence; Sheriff Sam Barlow
was unable to prevent a tragedy (a series of tragedies, actually) from
occurring. The idea of these men wanting to redeem themselves is something just
about everyone can relate to. Add to these characters the relationships in the
story—particularly the one between Paul and Julia (the third co-protagonist),
and I think there’s something to appeal to just about any reader.

In House of Skin
Myles Carver’s life provides the backstory for the Watermere estate. How important do you think a backstory is for
a haunted house?

I think backstory is absolutely crucial in this type of
tale. The Gothic construct places as much emphasis on the history that brought
a place or the characters to a given point as it does on the contemporary
storyline. Richard Matheson’s Hell House wouldn’t be as powerful without the
past story of Emeric Belasco. The events from the Chowder Society’s past are
what endow Peter Straub’s Ghost Story with such a powerful terror. Similarly,
the backstory of how Watermere became haunted, in my opinion, is what makes the
book resonate.

Do you think of House
of Skin as more of Julia Merrow or Paul Carver’s story primarily? Why?

Great question(Why Thank You)—you’re the first one to ask me that,
actually. Though Paul seems to be positioned as the titular protagonist (and
obviously he’s a main character), I see House of Skin more as Julia’s story.
She’s the one with the history with the house. She’s the one who knows Annabel
and what Annabel did. She’s the one who has sort of kept watch over Watermere
all these years, wondering about Annabel and awaiting her return. And even if
Julia isn’t aware she’s waiting, I think the fact that she never moves away
speaks volumes about her desires, even if she’d not own up to them were they
stated aloud.

How did the character
of Annabel, Myles Carver’s wife develop?

There’s power in femininity. There’s a raw species of energy
that is totally unique to the female gender. That power and energy can be a
beautiful thing, or it can be a horrible thing. Most men have had women in
their lives that they sort of felt worshipful about; most men, whether they’d
admit it or not, have met women who were downright scary. Annabel is an
ethereal looking creature, but she’s also an embodiment of evil, of selfish
desires, and of the dark side of sensuality. She’s rage incarnate, and I
suspect she’s an amalgamation of all the women I’ve met who’ve either beguiled
me or frightened me. Oh, and she was also inspired by the Romantic poets
(Shelley, Keats, and Byron, especially).

How is House of Skin
different from your debut novel, The Sorrows?

The Sorrows is like an indoor roller coaster with multiple
twists and turns. The kind that whips you around when you least expect it and
scares you with its sheer audacity and surprise. House of Skin is a roller
coaster, too, but it’s more like the old-fashioned, wooden, outdoor roller
coasters that feature a long, slow climb that takes the rider higher, higher,
higher, the chain beneath him going chik-chik-chik-chik…until the breathtaking
descent that sucks the rider’s heart up into his throat and makes his stomach
queasy. Both novels are fun rides, but House of Skin is more of the gradually
unfolding kind.

Who are some current
genre authors you are following?

Stephen King will always be my favorite. I love Jack Ketchum
and Joe R. Lansdale. Others I’ve gotten turned onto in the past five years or
so are Brian Keene, Tim Lebbon, and several of my fellow Samhain authors.

There is a great deal
of emphasis placed on horror villains and antagonists, but what is one of the
best conceived protagonists in a horror tale to you?

Hmmm…I think the ones we love the most are the ones we
either relate to directly or the kind we simply admire. A few I really love and
relate to are Hap Collins in Lansdale’s Hap and Leonard books, Abner Marsh from
George R.R. Martin’s Fevre Dream, and Avery Ludlow in Jack Ketchum’s Red.(Great Answer, huge fan of the book and movie) Protagonists I really admire would be Special Agent Pendergast (Preston and
Child), Levi Stoltzfus (Brian Keene), and any number of Elmore Leonard’s
cool-as-ice protagonists (like Stick or Valdez or Mr. Majestyk). And then there’s
the combination of the two kinds, where you relate to the character and you
want to be more like the character. For this combination, I’d say Stephen
King’s Roland Deschain (from The Dark Tower series) takes the prize for me.

What was the first truly
frightening novel you remember reading?
Was your reaction to bury it in the closet, or run out and find other
stories like it?

The first novel that really scared me—I mean, really kept me
up at night—was probably ‘Salem’s Lot, which I read back in high school. By the
time I read that one, I was already a total Stephen King fanatic, so it won’t
be surprising to know that I continued to devour King’s books with, if
possible, an even greater fervor and voraciousness.

Your work Savage
Species is going to be released this summer in serialized form. How did this project come together?

Ah, this is one I’m incredibly excited about. I had written
about, oh, sixty percent of the book when my agent Louise Fury told me that
she’d had a conversation over dinner with Don D’Auria (my amazing editor at
Samhain), and two other people at or near the top of the Samhain Publishing
company hierarchy. At that dinner the idea of a serialized horror novel
materialized (uttered first, I think, by Louise, but then adopted with enthusiasm
by the other three present), and soon after that I received a call from Louise
wanting to discuss “something.” If I remember correctly, she told me about the
idea and asked if I had anything that might work with the serial format. It
just so happened that I’d been working on Savage Species (then called Native)
and felt the novel was really taking shape nicely. We went back to Don, who
thought the book idea was perfect for the format (Louise and I obviously felt
that way too), so I proceeded to write the rest of the novel with the serial
format in mind. Strangely enough, only a few things were changed because of the
format. Breaking places between installments did shift somewhat (to maximize
the “cliffhanger” aspect of the book), and I eventually added a prologue to
ensure the piece a “grabbing” opener. But it was really a story that was
perfectly suited to the serialized format, so I’m beyond pleased that it worked
out so well. I’m also glad that Don D’Auria liked the title Savage Species more
than the other titles I was considering, because I really think it’s a perfect
title for the story.

Thanks so much for having me as a guest, M.R.! I’m excited to check out some of
your fiction too!